Ukraine updates: Biden, Starmer to talk long-range arms

Ukraine's air force said it shot down 24 of 26 Russian drones over five Ukrainian regions overnight, according to a statement posted on social media.

There was no information about casualties or damage caused by the drones. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, such drone attacks have become an almost nightly occurrence.

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has accused six British diplomats of espionage. It said the Russian Foreign Ministry had canceled the accreditation of six employees of the political department of the British embassy in Moscow, and they will be expelled.

The move was in response to "numerous unfriendly steps" by London and after "signs of espionage and sabotage" were found in the diplomats' actions, the FSB said in a statement.

Russian state television said in a report that the six diplomats had met with independent media and rights groups that have been declared "foreign agents." Russian authorities have actively used the label against organizations and individuals critical of the Kremlin. 

The news comes as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets US President Joe Biden in Washington where he is expected to discuss Ukraine's request to lift restrictions on the use of Western weapons against Russian targets. 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is in Washington for talks about whether to let Kyiv use long-range missiles against Russia, in what could be their last meeting ahead of a US election that could upend policy on Ukraine.

Starmer is expected to meet US President Biden at the White House on Friday amid pleas from Ukraine to lift restrictions on the use of Western weaponry against Russian targets.

Kyiv wants Washington and London to lift a restriction preventing the use of weaponry made in the US and UK, like Storm Shadow missiles, for long-range strikes inside Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that giving Ukraine the green light would mean NATO was "at war" with Moscow.

British media has reported that Biden, wary of provoking any nuclear conflict, is prepared to let Ukraine deploy British and French missiles using US technology but not US-made missiles themselves.

Kyiv complains that not being allowed to hit the Russian air bases from which glide bomb attacks against Ukraine are launched is like making it fight this war with an arm tied behind its back.

The talks come with Biden is on his way out of office and November's US election on a knife-edge between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.

Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun has said "negotiation" is the sole solution to conflicts such as the war Ukraine, as he addressed a global gathering of military officials in Beijing.

Scores of delegates are attending the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing.

State media says China is hosting more than 500 representatives from over 90 countries and organizations across three days.

Dong told the opening ceremony: "To resolve hotspot issues such as the crisis in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, promoting peace and negotiation is the only way out."

"There is no winner in war and conflict, and confrontation leads nowhere," Dong said.

"The more acute the conflict, the more we cannot give up dialogue and consultation. The end of any conflict is reconciliation," he added, calling on all countries to promote "peaceful development and inclusive governance."

Russia and China have significantly increased military cooperation in recent years, with both railing against what they see as the US domination of global affairs.

rc/kb (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)